fundraising efforts for ever more elaborate exploration ships. The first third of To the Edges of the Earth is stage-setting. Larson reviews the history of exploration to the polar regions and to ever-higher mountain peaks the recounts of the pre1909 exploits of Scott, Shackelton, Greely, Peary and Henson, Abruzzi, and several others. Each of these stories and the expeditions that they recount are set against the ultra-nationalism of the day, from America’s manifest destiny and empire building to the United Kingdom’s maintenance of its then-situation atop the world powers. Italy’s place in this nationalism competition is portrayed through Abruzzi’s and others’ efforts to leave a mark on the history of exploration. Larson comes close to portraying Norway’s Amundsen as the anti-hero in many of these stories – a juxtaposition that is a bit strained. Larson’s recounting of the American efforts to reach the North Pole highlights Peary’s difficult temperament and the difficulties of justifying pseudo-public exploration efforts on the taxpayer’s dime. Much of the discussion of Peary’s expeditions is given over to fundraising efforts and Peary’s knack for self-promotion. The American story in this book – the race for the North Pole – culminates in Peary’s courting of the explorer-President, Theodore Roosevelt as one of the expedition’s staunchest supporters and the means that Peary used to leverage his military appointment to support his several polar expeditions. Much of Larson’s review of Shackelton’s story at the South Pole on the Nimrod expedition is consumed by folly: the folly of attempting to use an automobile in Antarctica; the folly of bringing large numbers of horses to the continent; and the folly of timing errors that cost the expedition considerable time and opportunity. As anyone familiar with Shackleton’s story will immediately recognize, Larson deftly weaves into the narrative the aspects of the explorer’s tenacity and loyalty that make him such a memorable historical figure. Thus, while the narrative and exploration are dogged with folly and error, Larsonmaintains Shackleton’s respectability through his portrayal of the man’s personal attributes. Larson’s inclusion of Abruzzi’s mountaineering endeavors superficially seems to be a tangent to the geographic polar stories, but this seeming detour is united with the other tales through both Abruzzi’s own polar expeditions before 1909 and because Abruzzi’s summit of K2 in 1909 represents a cog in the Edwardian era exploration wheel. Abruzzi’s story introduces a topic not often covered in the polar exploration sagas that functions to expand the standard narratives and will, no doubt, appeal to the popular audiences this book targets. On the whole, Larson has succeeded with this volume in providing an entertaining and well-researched popular book on a temporally narrow topic in the history of exploration.

中文翻译：

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欧洲的印度：1500-1800 年的文字、人民、帝国

为更加精致的勘探船筹集资金。To the Edges of the Earth的前三分之一是舞台布景。Larson 回顾了对极地地区和更高山峰的探索历史，讲述了 Scott、Shackelton、Greely、Peary 和 Henson、Abruzzi 和其他几个人在 1909 年之前的探险经历。这些故事中的每一个以及它们所讲述的探险都与当时的极端民族主义背道而驰，从美国的注定命运和帝国建设到英国维持其当时的世界强国地位。意大利在这场民族主义竞赛中的地位是通过阿布鲁齐和其他人在探索史上留下印记的努力来描绘的。在这些故事中，拉尔森几乎将挪威的阿蒙森描绘成反英雄——这种并置有点紧张。拉尔森对美国到达北极的努力的叙述凸显了皮里的脾气暴躁，以及用纳税人的钱来证明伪公开探索努力的困难。对 Peary 探险的大部分讨论都集中在筹款活动和 Peary 自我推销的诀窍上。本书中的美国故事——北极的竞赛——以皮里向探险家总统西奥多·罗斯福求爱作为探险队最坚定的支持者之一，以及皮里利用他的军事任命来支持他的几次极地探险的手段而告终. 拉尔森对沙克尔顿在宁录探险队南极的故事的大部分评论都被愚蠢所吞噬：试图在南极洲使用汽车是愚蠢的；将大量马匹带到大陆是愚蠢的；愚蠢的计时错误使探险队付出了大量的时间和机会。任何熟悉沙克尔顿故事的人都会立即认出，拉尔森巧妙地将探险家的坚韧和忠诚的各个方面融入叙事中，这些方面使他成为令人难忘的历史人物。因此，虽然叙述和探索充满了愚蠢和错误，但拉尔森通过对沙克尔顿个人品质的描绘来保持沙克尔顿的体面。Larson 将 Abruzzi 的登山努力从表面上看似乎与地理极地故事相切合，但这种看似绕道的故事与 1909 年之前 Abruzzi 自己的极地探险以及因为 Abruzzi 于 1909 年登上 K2 的顶峰代表了爱德华时代的一个齿轮而与其他故事相结合时代探索轮。Abruzzi 的故事介绍了一个极地探险传奇中不常涉及的主题，该主题的作用是扩展标准叙述，无疑将吸引本书所针对的大众读者。总体而言，拉尔森通过这本书成功地提供了一本有趣且经过充分研究的流行书，内容涉及探索史上一个时间有限的主题。